


if only dreams were reality, it wouldn't hurt so much

by thatemofangirl



Series: AUgust 2020 [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: A fight Spider-Man couldn’t win, AU-gust 2020, Angst and Tragedy, Dreaming, Hurt Peter Parker, M/M, Pain, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Unrequited Crush, What-If, Worried May Parker (Spider-Man), Worried Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:21:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25743511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatemofangirl/pseuds/thatemofangirl
Summary: A lost fight leads to more pain than Peter could’ve imagined.
Relationships: Harley Keener/Peter Parker, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: AUgust 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1858408
Comments: 3
Kudos: 68





	if only dreams were reality, it wouldn't hurt so much

**Author's Note:**

> Day Six is Hospital, but this is less of an AU and more of a oneshot inspired by the prompt.

The rain was coming down hard. The storm outside was so bad, that even with the Spider-Man suit having a mask to keep the water out of his eyes, Peter was having trouble seeing.

The cold wind whipped furiously, sending chills through Peter, raising goodebumps. He would've told Karen to turn on the heater Tony Stark had installed if he wasn't too busy fighting.

"Come on man," Spider-Man slid under a car Rhino had sent flying his way before webbing it to make sure it wouldn't hit the building behind him. "Wouldn't it just be easier for the both of us if you just give up?"

Rhino just let out a loud roar before getting ready to charge. Peter sighed, preparing for the attack. At least the people had evacuated the street when the fight began.

Jumping and shooting webs to both of his sides, Spider-Man propelled himself into the air, twisting and coming back down to kick the villain in the back forcefully. Between the speed in which he was running and Peter's strength, Rhino went crashing into the building. Concrete and glass shattered all around him. So much for saving it from that car.

"You weren't on your way to kidnap John Jameson again, were you?" Peter asked over the pounding sounds of the heavy rain hitting the pavement. "Because between you and me, I don't think he likes getting kidnapped."

Rhino stood back up and shook off the impact and turned back around, ready to advance again. Spider-Man crouched down and shot two webs at his legs, the plan to pull them out from under the man, but before he could pull, Rhino decided to begin running.

"Uh oh." Spider-Man very narrowly avoided getting trampled by rolling out of the way, shooting a web to the nearest thing to him, which was a lamppost, to help him stand back up quickly.

The storm seemed to be getting worse. The clouds overhead even darker than the night sky itself. The winds had gotten even stronger to where it was pushing the rain sideways as it came down.

Spider-Man webbed Rhino's eyes in hopes to get the advantage. While it aggravated his opponent, causing him to claw at his eyes, Peter took the opportunity to start to tie him up.

Latching on with a web, Peter got a running start before swinging around Rhino, pinning the rampaging monster's arms to his sides. Peter tried his best to keep going as Rhino began to thrash, but in an unfortunate turn of events, the webs weren't strong enough to keep Rhino from breaking out, and Spider-Man got a large fist to the chest.

Peter went flying back into a skyscraper and heard the glass crack behind him as his head collided with the surface. Momentarily disoriented, Peter closed his eyes and tried to shake the pain away. This wasn't a moment to let it overwhelm him; he had a villain to catch and put back in the Raft.

Standing up and ignoring the pain in the back of his head, Peter saw Rhino preparing to charge again, his head down and giant horn looking more menacing and dangerous than normal.

Spider-Man pressed his webshooter, hoping to make a quick escape, but his gut dropped when over the rain, he heard the telltale click of an empty canister of web fluid.

"Well that's mildly inconvenient," Peter had sworn he had refilled his web fluid just last night, after he had whipped up a new batch in his bedroom.

His head turned back to Rhino, who was now charging full speed directly towards Peter.

His first instinct other than to swing away was to climb. Red gloved fingers began to stick to the glass of the skyscraper, and Peter had made it up about a yard before he felt himself slipping.

The rain was too much. The glass was too slick, and Peter couldn't hold on. Beginning to panic, he tried climbing as fast as he could, but the longer he stood on the less he could get a grip.

It felt like the air was knocked out of his lungs as Rhino's horn slammed into his back. Peter let out a yell of pain as Rhino kept moving, the force slamming Spider-Man through the wall of the building.

Peter tried to fight back as he felt Rhino's hands grab his waist and lift him up. He tried to pry his fingers up, but they were like a vice. Before he knew it, he felt like he was falling as Rhino smashed Peter into the ground.

He hit his head again. This time, with double the amount of force as before.

Peter saw stars as he fought to keep his eyes open. He felt like he couldn't move. His head throbbed wildly, and he tried to open his mouth to ask Karen for help. To call Tony or the rest of the Avengers, but he couldn't.

He tried to stave off his bodys natural defense, but he ultimately failed.

The last thing he heard before he slipped from consciousness was Karen's voice in his ears. The AI had to realized that Peter was in critical condition. The last thing he saw was the flashing words: [CONTACT TONY STARK FAILED. CONTACTING HARLEY KEENER...]

Peter's eyes were still shut, but the steady beating of a heart monitor told him he was in a hospital.

The beeping began to pick up as he started to panic. He didn't know who brought him, or remember how he got there. In fact,, he couldn't remember much. The last thing he knew, he was fighting someone. Even those details were fuzzy. He was scared that a civilian found him and now he was unmasked. The world would know Spider-Man's identity.

Peter's eyes flew open as he sat up. He squinted from the bright light and winced at the pull of an IV in his arm.

"Peter!" The sound of his aunt May's voice eased his nerves slightly, but not enough. Finding the direction it came from, he saw her standing up and rushing to his side, grabbing his hand. Peter reciprocated the guesture, finding comfort in his aunts touch. "Oh sweetie, lay back down, you're going to hurt yourself!"

Peter gulped as his eyebrows stitched together. He followed her command, resting back against the hospital bed, but he was still confused and concerned.

"What happened?" His head throbbed dully. Like he had hit it. He _had_ hit it. Why couldn't he remember hitting it?

"You almost got into a fight you couldn't win, that's what happened." A second voice chuckled. His vision focusing, Peter saw a blond boy standing in the doorway of the hospital room. "Tony! He's awake!"

Peter stared at the boys face. He knew he knew him, he's seen him before. Then it hit him: Harley Keener.

Peter had met him a while ago, but had only seen him a couple of times over the past few years. He came around the Avengers Compound every summer and winter vacations and stayed for a couple of weeks.

Peter had always found him endearing and interesting, but they never truly had a conversation that lasted more than a couple of minutes. Harley had a natural 'don't mess with me' attitude, even more so when he was working in the lab. So Peter stuck to admiring from afar and keeping his growing crush at bay.

So why was he here?

Harley had stepped further into the room and Peter heard the hurried footsteps of none other Tony Stark. The cup in his hand giving off steam made Peter think he had just come back from a coffee run, and when Harley saw him coming down the hall and calling to him, he rushed to get back.

"Kid!" Tony breathed. "You scared us all half to death."

"I'm okay." Peter said, still trying to recall the events that brought him here. "At least, I think I am?" He then shook his head, but stopped when the movement worsened the pain. "What happened?" He then repeated.

"You and Rhino had a pretty nasty battle." Tony ran a hand down his face while May gave Peter a small encouraging smile. "You had webbed him up enough to keep him from moving when SHIELD came to take him in, but you had passed out from exertion. The video footage Karen recorded showed you had been fighting for a good three hours, and you had taken quite a lot of hits."

It made sense, but something about that story didn't seem right to Peter. "How did I– how did I get here? SHIELD?"

"No. That was me," Peter's eyes found Harley again. "Tony was in the shower when I got the alert from Karen that you were unconcious at the battle scene."

"He _stole_ my suit and went to go get you." Tony butted in with a smidge of annoyance in his tone.

"I got there before SHIELD and brought you back to the med bay here in the Compound."

"So...no one knows I'm Spider-Man?" May and Harley laughed. Did they not understand his genuine confusion? Peter couldn't help but to feel something was off about all of this. Maybe it was just because of his head.

"No one but us, kid,"

"You say I beat Rhino?" Peter then asked, sitting back up again. May let go of his hand to move his hair from his forhead and he whispered a small thanks.

"You've done it before, shouldn't be too much of a surprise." May said softly.

"It's just..." Peter swallowed, but his throat was rough and dry. "I don't remember."

"What?"

"The fight. I don't really remember it." Peter restated, squeezing his eyes shut as he strained to remember.

"Oh." He was expecting worry to show up on Tony, May, and Harley's faces, but they surprisingly stayed calm. Peter was worrying. "Well, Bruce said that could happen."

"What do you mean?" Peter felt his heart race pick up.

"We gave you the full works, CAT scan, MRI, and Bruce saw nothing wrong with you or your brain. But Peter, it's completely natural for your brain to block out traumatic events. It's a sort of coping mechanism." Peter was beginning to get confused again. Actually, the confusion never left in the first place. "The video showed you were really scared, Pete. You didn't think you could win for a while. Don't stress about it. It'll all come back in time."

Everything about that seemed unusually out of character for Tony. While what he said was true; the brain could block out traumatic events, Peter didn't understand why his would classify the fight as a traumatic event. He might have been scared, but he won in the end. Didn't he? He's been scared plenty of times before. He never forgot those fights.

"This is," Peter began, letting out a small groan as the pain in his head worsened. "This is a lot."

"Do you want us to give you a little time to yourself?" May asked softly.

"Uh, sure," Peter stammered.

"I'll be back with some water in a minute. You sound like you need it." Tony said as both him and May began to back towards the exit. Soon, it was only Harley and Peter in the room.

Peter still couldn't figure out why he was there. Why he cared. Last he knew, they weren't even friends. They were barely acquaintances.

"You really brought me here?"

Harley let out a breathy chuckle as he stared at his hands before looking at Peter. "You didn't expect me to just leave you there, did you? You scared me, Peter. You scared all of us."

Harley stepped closer to the bed, sitting down close to Peter's legs.

Peter didn't have time to process Harley's movements as the blond moved forward and his hand went to Peter's cheek.

Peter's eyes widened as Harley pressed his lips firmly against his before pulling away. "Scare me like that again Parker, and I won't let you be Spider-Man for a year."

Harley smiled but it faded and Peter watched as his expression turned to concern as he saw the confusion on Peter's face.

"Is everything all right, darlin'?"

"You... you just kissed me." Peter breathed out.

He was sure something was wrong now. Him and Harley weren't ever this close, as much as he dreamt it to happen. Peter was tempted to let the happiness in his chest overcome the skepticism of everything. Sure, his memories were cloudy, but he knew for a fact that he and Harley weren't ever together.

"What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't kiss you?" Harley smiled again, although concern still laced his features. "Are you sure you're okay Peter?"

"Boyfriend..." Peter echoed. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm just..." he trailed off, not finishing his sentence. He wasn’t sure what would happen if he mentioned what he was feeling. " _Really_ thirsty."

"I got you covered." Tony appeared back in the doorway, holding up a water bottle and shaking it as he took a sip of his coffee. "Scram Harley, I wanna talk to Pete for a sec."

Tony sat down on the other side of the hospital bed and Peter sat up even more as he gratefully sipped on the water, the liquid instantly soothing his throat. It felt like he had swallowed glass and dust.

"Alright, alright," Harley stood up, but he didn't leave just yet. Peter could feel his blue eyes still trained on him.

"I wanna start by saying you took a good beating yesterday," Tony began. "So, no patrols for a week at least. So we know you're fully healed. Next, Bruce said—"

"Agh!" Peter's hand flew to his head where the pain was still there. The throbbing had become stronger to the point where it felt like someone was squeezing his brain from the inside.

"Kid?"

"Peter?"

"It hurts," Peter managed to get out before he felt his eyes closing again.

He faintly heard Tony shout for Bruce again, but it was Harley's voice that he solely heard.

"Stay with me, Peter,"

The light was bright againt Peter's eyelids as the sound of a monitor filled the room.

Didn't this already happen?

Peter sat up slowly, and he heard a small gasp. Carefully opening his eyes, he saw May sitting in a chair three feet away from him. Her eyes were brimmed red from crying, and when she saw Peter staring at her, she stood up and immediately stood by his side.

"Kid," Turning his head, he saw Tony was on his other side. Taking in his appearance, Peter immediately saw it looked like he hadn't slept in days, eyes bloodshot with dark bags underneath.

The pain in Peter's head faded quickly, like it wasn't there, and receded back to a dull throbbing he could live with.

Memories started to come back to him: it was storming when he fought Rhino. He ran out of web fluid. Rhino won.

Everything came back, but now Peter also had conflicting memories. Harley was nowhere to be seen. Was that all a dream?

"Am I—" Peter started, but his throat burned.

"You're back at the Compound." Tony said quickly. "I can't believe you're _awake_. We were so worried you wouldn't wake up."

"Wouldn't wake up?" Peter thoughts began to spin. To him, this was the second time he woke up. At least, he believed it was. Everything had seemed so real. But the longer he stayed conscious, the more he realized that everything else had all been in his head.

"You were out for three days, Peter," May said, her voice cracking from emotion, a relieved smile appearing on her face. "You were in a coma." A coma.

"Rhino." Peter stated. "He—"

"Don't worry about him Peter." Tony said dismissively. "FRIDAY, tell Bruce to get down here. Peter's awake."

"Yes Boss." Peter heard the AI acknowledge Tony's request.

"I'm so happy you're okay." May squeezed Peter's hand just like she did the last time he woke up. No. Like she did in his dream. "How are you feeling?"

"Hurt," Peter answered. His confusion was clearing, but he still couldn't help but to feel all of the emotions still in his chest from the dream. "But alive,"

"Hey," Peter's attention turned to Bruce as the man appeared in the doorway. "Let's make sure you're all right."

Peter was off of missions and patrols for the next month via both May's and Tony's orders. But he still was able to stick around the Compound to use to lab as long as he let Bruce check up on him to make sure his brain took no damage.

Peter healed quickly, and he was already feeling better since it was a day later.

Walking into the lab, he froze when he saw Harley's figure leaning over a table. Peter didn't say anything, but his footsteps gave him away, and Harley glanced at him.

"Heard you were awake," ths boy spoke. "You good?"

"Yeah." Peter gulped. He felt awkward talking to him. His dream was still in his head, replaying like it was a real memory. He could basically feel the phantom kiss as he stared at Harley, and he forgot how to speak, making the eye contact between the two of them uncomfortable as he didn't say anything.

Harley then sighed, turning back to what he was working on. "I don't expect you to bring up what I did the other day all the time. I knew Stark would tear apart the city if you had died."

That was something that had stayed the same. Tony had told him that it was Harley who took an Iron Man suit and brought an unconcious Peter back to the Compound.

Peter knew Tony blamed himself for being further upstate at his house and not at the Compound, but he couldn't have possibly known Peter was even going to get into a fight. Peter wasn't even expecting it. He was heading back home when he saw Rhino rampaging down the New York streets.

"Yeah– no– I get it. Thanks." Peter stammered, turning away from Harley. He couldn't look at him without seeing the Harley that was in his head.

It broke Peter's heart. He cursed himself for wanting to go back to that dream. At least in that reality, Harley reciprocated the feelings Peter felt for him instead of being back to closed off and unwilling to let anyone in.

Peter couldn't kid himself. Harley showed no further concern, and instead went back to whatever he was fiddling with. Letting out a soft sigh, Peter knew that his dreams were going to stay just that. Dreams.


End file.
